We listen to our anxious thinking as if it is the absolute truth. “What if” thinking is anxious thinking. “What if” thinking is always an exaggeration of our fears. When we’re anxious it’s hard to think clearly, so we fall into believing whatever we hear ourselves saying. Don’t believe everything you hear. 

It becomes a negative cycle and we keep getting stuck in its rut. Why is it we don’t say ,”what if” I go to that party and everyone loves me, wants to talk to me and be my BFF? No, we don’t do that right? We go down the rabbit hole of negative thoughts and fears. 

We can reframe these thoughts and you can start giving yourself light, rather than scary, negative thoughts. 

Here’s some tips how. 

1. Awareness is first
2. Write down as many “what if” and negative thoughts as you can.
3. Don’t react, just observe. 
4. Are these thoughts actually true? 
5. Do they make sense? 
6. Have they ever happened?
7. State the thought and ask ….. if that happens then what…..and if that happens, then what….until you’ve exhausted the thought and are at the bottom of the fear.
8. Start to reframe it, use your calm, logical voice to challenge if it is true.

You can rewrite the scripts and stories in your head. We wrote them in the first place. Breath deep and dig in. I believe in you. 

Barb